Anyone else depressed seeing the state of the job market?

You seem like a glass half-empty type person.

Agree. Most people start from the bottom. I wonder if OP has ever had a job before.

I'm going to read and reply to the other posts soon but I just want to say that I've actually worked for years. I've worked for a bank, numerous call centres, a government data entry job, a retail store and as a caretaker plus went to college and done volunteer work. I've done everything I can to boost my CV and get as much working experience as I can.

None of these jobs offered any career progression and were pretty dead end temporary contracts.

in my case its a pain in the backside as I am a healthcare professional living in an area with a high proportion of health profesionals :| and unless you have nepotistic connections / have a minimum of 2 years experience as a registered health professional (mine is just under 15 months)/ work for low rate on an extremely adhoc basis, then you have to move hundreds of miles away to remote village to get a fulltime job in the sector im currently in (to move sectors I have to wait between 9 and 21 months before applying :|)

In the year and a bit that I have been a registered health professional, I have only had 67 days of work (most recently was in november). I myself have been keeping myself busy with volunteer work and pursuing other interests but the job market is crap. In terms of non-healthcare jobs available to me within 30 miles, it is literally courier work, trainee chefs or minimum wage 0 hour contract stuff that pays less in a week than what id earn in a day :|.

I'm going to read and reply to the other posts soon but I just want to say that I've actually worked for years. I've worked for a bank, numerous call centres, a government data entry job, a retail store and as a caretaker plus went to college and done volunteer work. I've done everything I can to boost my CV and get as much working experience as I can.

None of these jobs offered any career progression and were pretty dead end temporary contracts.

I would like to do something less conventional like youth work related jobs but there are very few openings in that sector and they all require volunteer experience. How are you supposed to find time to volunteer and gain experience if you also need to pay bills and work at the same time? Why are all these jobs demanding flexibility between 8am and 8pm, any 5 days a week?Whatever happened to a Monday to Friday, 9 - 5?

Interesting...I thought we were crying out for healthcare workers? What area of healthcare do you do, if you don't mind my asking?

We're certainly lacking doctors, and to a lesser extent nurses. I assume that the other poster isn't one of these.

What you have listed are jobs that don't require many/ any qualifications. That's why career progression and security in non-existent in these jobs...as virtually anyone can do them.

I'm not sure which institution or degree you have. While not a guarantee of a decent job, a "useful"/ prestigious degree from a well-regarded institution will certainly help in your job search.

Interesting...I thought we were crying out for healthcare workers? What area of healthcare do you do, if you don't mind my asking?

If you know youth work has few opportunities at the moment, then you need to look elsewhere. Acquire "experience" then re-explore this area when you are in a better position. Find a job with set typical hours and fit in volunteering around that and on weekends.

Or perhaps study part-time on top. There are instances where people work full time and study part time. Or you could look at doing an open uni course.

Yes, quite. I was wondering whether s/he is an Allied Health Professional or something.

We're certainly lacking doctors, and to a lesser extent nurses. I assume that the other poster isn't one of these.

I rather annoyingly found myself in the field of community pharmacy (an area Ive hated since I started uni but ended up in due to suffering from really bad interview anxiety at numerous hospitals (including a few big name ones) and a last year at uni from hell (if you want more details of what happened, ill pm you)).

Essentially pharmacy can be classified in 3 main categories: community (ie **** shopkeeping with limited clinical stuff), clinical (essentially you do what a doctor does minus diagnosing patients, you train nursing / junior medical staff about drugs and prescribing and in fact you have equal say as consultants in what is prescribed as most hospital and primary care prescribing guidelines are made by clinical pharmacists with consultants), and industrial pharmacy (drug development which is more boring than you can imagine).

I myself originally wanted to be a GP but due to suffering from PTSD during my a levels, I ended up doing pharmacy, where I still wanted to become a GP...until david cameron and his cronies trebled tuition fees meaning I would be unable to study it financially. because of this, I ended up wanting to be a clinical pharmacist but due to me fluffing my pre-reg interviews, i ended up in community and because I did my pre-reg in community, all hospitals / gp practices say I need to have 2-3 years experience as a registered pharmacist before I can apply for a job due to a lack of clinical experience.
(graduate entry medicine back on the table as a lot of unis minus the really elitist ones are offering more financial aid to graduates but it means I have to apply for 2018 cohort).

in case you are wondering what the term pre-reg means, anyone who has a healthcare degree in the UK has to do pre-registration training for a year (2 for doctors ie f1 and f2) before they are on their professional register and allowed to work for the NHS.